Public urged not to panic over quakes in Phuket

PHUKET, April 21 (TNA) - People have been urged not to panic over earthquakes in Thailand's southern Andaman Phuket Province lately, as the tremors were minor and the government has kept monitoring the situation closely with well-prepared measures to deal with incidents. Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit said on Saturday during the weekly address of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, on behalf of the prime minister who is now in Japan for the 4th Mekong-Japan Summit, that the government is not sitting idly but it has been closely monitoring the situation. Yongyuth pointed out that Thailand has a national disaster warning centre and his Interior Ministry has cooperated with provincial officials on a constant basis to ensure that local people are always informed and will properly understand the updated situation, and that the Thai government is now used to coping with similar natural disasters, such as severe floods. Captain Somsak Khaosuwan, Director of the National Disaster Warning Centre, acknowledged in the same programme that the quake hitting Phuket on April 16 was considered normal and mild, and that Thailand’s national disaster warning centre is the best in Southeast Asia and is second only to Japan among Asian countries, saying as well that every dam and reservoir in Thailand has remained 100 per cent safe, after the April 16 quake in Phuket with more than 40 mild aftershocks so far. Meanwhile, Viboon Sa-nguanpong, Director-General of the Ministry of Interior's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation affirmed that his department's officials based in provinces throughout the country have sound knowledge on 18 man-made and natural disasters and are well-prepared to cope with any incident.(TNA)